Apparatus for shoe jewelry

ABSTRACT

A jewelry item including a bar, a first object, and a second object. The bar including a first longitudinal end portion and a second longitudinal end portion. The first object being coupled to the first longitudinal end portion. The second object being coupled to the second longitudinal end portion. The bar spanning between the first object and the second object. The bar extending through and spanning between the pair of opposing shoelace eyelets.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. ProvisionalApplication having Ser. No. 62/782,955, filed Dec. 20, 2018, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to jewelry for shoes.

BACKGROUND

People have long enhanced their wardrobe by creating interestingclothing and adding accessories thereto. There is a desire for atechnology for coupling a decorative device to a shoe. Often, shoes,such as summertime shoes meant for water, have included openings on thesides to allow for ornaments to be snapped therethrough. Other shoeswith preconstructed designs to accommodate accessories to be snapped orotherwise attached have been made available to consumers. However, suchshoe construction is expensive and limited in its functionality andappearance. Hence, there is a need for interesting and attractiveaccessories that are independent of specific shoe design.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a device includes a jewelry item including a bar, afirst object, and a second object. The bar includes a first longitudinalend portion and a second longitudinal end portion. The first object iscoupled to the first longitudinal end portion. The second object iscoupled to the second longitudinal end portion. The bar spans betweenthe first object and the second object such that a barbell shape isformed. The bar may be sized, at least at the ends, to be insertedwithin opposing shoelace eyelets of a shoe with the first object beingon one side of a first eyelet and the second object being on an oppositeside of a second eyelet such that the bar spans between the pair ofopposing shoelace eyelets so as to remain attached to the shoe when thefirst and second objects are attached to the bar. The bar may be curvedto extend in a curved manner over a tongue of the shoe.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-32 show various embodiments of decorative devices that can becoupled to a shoe via opposing eyelets for shoelaces in accordance withthis disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Generally, this disclosure discloses a decorative device that can becoupled to a shoe. For example, the decorative device may be a jewelryitem. Note that this disclosure may be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as necessarily being limited to variousembodiments disclosed herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure is thorough and complete, and fully conveys variousconcepts of this disclosure to skilled artisans.

As shown in FIGS. 1-32, a jewelry item includes a bar, a first object,and a second object. The bar includes a first longitudinal end portionand a second longitudinal end portion. The first object is coupled tothe first longitudinal end portion. The second object is coupled to thesecond longitudinal end portion. As such, the bar spans between thefirst object and the second object such that a barbell shape is formed.

The bar can include metal, plastic, wood, rubber, glass, crystal,precious stones, fabric, or others. The metal can include gold, silver,bronze, or other precious metal or appearance of a precious metal. Thebar can be rigid, flexible, resilient, flexible, or otherwise. The barcan be solid, hollow, perforated, or otherwise. The bar can be opaque,transparent, or translucent. The bar can be rectilinear, arcuate,sinusoidal, saw-tooth, or other geometric or non-geometric shape. Thebar can include a longitudinal bend, which may be parabolic, circular,or otherwise, whether centrally or off-center. The bar can have acircular cross-section, a square cross-section, a triangularcross-section, an oval cross-section, a pentagonal cross-section, anoctagonal cross-section, a polygonal cross-section, or other geometric,multi-geometric, or non-geometric cross-section shape. The bar can becoated with a non-stick coating to avoid dirt sticking thereto. The barcan be less than about 5 inches, 4 inches, 3 inches, 2 inches, or 1 inchlong along a longitudinal plane. The bar can be less than about 1 inchin cross-sectional diameter.

At least one of the first object or the second object can assemble tothe bar via screw threads, fastening, mating, interlocking, magnetizing,adhering, hook-and-looping, snapping, or other fastening technique. Atleast one of the first object or the second object can be unitary withthe bar. At least one of the first object or the second object caninclude metal, plastic, wood, rubber, glass, crystal, precious stones,fabric, or otherwise. The metal can include gold, silver, bronze orother precious or precious metal appearance. At least one of the firstobject or the second object can be rigid, flexible, resilient, flexible,or others. At least one of the first object or the second object can besolid, hollow, perforated, or others. At least one of the first objector the second object can be opaque, transparent, or translucent. Atleast one of the first object or the second object can be spherical,conical, cuboid, ovoid, pyramidal, or other geometric or non-geometricshape. At least one of the first object or the second object can host anexterior design to provide an appearance of a soccer ball, a watermelon,a tomato, a cartoon character, or others. At least one of the firstobject or the second object can include at least one of a projection ora depression, whether inward or outward. At least one of the firstobject or the second object can be less than about 5 inches, 4 inches, 3inches, 2 inches, or 1 inch long along a longitudinal plane. At leastone of the first object or the second object can be less than about 3inches in cross-sectional diameter.

At least one of the first object or the second object can include abattery and a light source, a sound source, a fluid source, or avibration source. The battery can be rechargeable or single-use. Thebattery can be a coin cell, a cylindrical battery, or others. The lightsource can include a light emitting diode (LED). The sound source caninclude a speaker. The fluid source can include a pump to output atleast one of a liquid or a gas. The vibration source can include atleast one of a transducer, an electric motor, or an actuator. In anembodiment, at least one of the first object or second object mayinclude at least a portion that is translucent, semi-translucent, ordefine an opening, such that a light source disposed therein can be seenvia the translucent, semi-translucent, or opening, and such that a soundsource can be better heard.

At least one of the first object or the second object can be configuredfor use in at least one of a moist environment, a wet environment, orotherwise. For example, at least one of the first object or the secondobject can be used outdoors, camping, or underwater. For example, atleast one of the first object or the second object can be used withrain, snow, mud, sand, or others. At least one of the first object orthe second object can be coated with a non-stick coating to avoid dirtsticking thereto.

The jewelry item can be worn with a shoe including a plurality ofeyelets. The shoe may further include a tongue. The shoe can include atleast one of a right shoe, a left shoe, a male shoe, a female shoe, achild shoe, an orthopedic shoe, a sneaker, a dress shoe, a slipper shoe,a boot, a heeled shoe, a flat shoe, a water shoe, a swim fin shoe, orothers. The eyelets can include a plurality of opposing shoelaceeyelets, which can contain or avoid containing a shoelace when the shoejewelry is inserted through the opposing eyelets. Alternatively, the baror first or second objects may be configured to couple to the eyeletswithout the bar extending through the eyelets. The eyelets canhorizontally oppose each other or diagonally oppose each other. Theeyelets can be of any closed-shape, such as at least one of an O-shape,a D-shape, or others. The tongue extends between the eyelets. In anembodiment, the shoe jewelry can be configured to extend between offsetopposing eyelets (e.g., offset by one or more spaces vertically alongthe direction of the tongue of the shoe.

The jewelry item can be worn with the shoe based on the bar extendingthrough the eyelets such that the tongue is positioned between the firstobject and the second object while the tongue faces the bar. The firstobject and the second object are external of the shoe. The jewelry itemmay be loosely held within the eyelets, thereby not applying pressureagainst the jewelry or the objects at the ends of the jewelry.Alternatively some modest pressure may be applied from the foot to causesome minimal tension on the jewelry. In yet another embodiment, thejewelry may be constructed to be able to absorb some force applied tothe jewelry without deforming or otherwise altering the shape of thebar.

Note that various terminology used herein can imply direct or indirect,full or partial, temporary or permanent, action or inaction. Forexample, when an element is referred to as being “on,” “connected,” or“coupled” to another element, then the element can be directly on,connected, or coupled to another element or intervening elements can bepresent, including indirect or direct variants. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directlycoupled” to another element, then there are no intervening elementspresent.

As used herein, various singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intendedto include various plural forms as well, unless specific context clearlyindicates otherwise.

As used herein, various presence verbs “comprises,” “includes” or“comprising,” “including” when used in this specification, specify apresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, orgroups thereof.

As used herein, a term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of a set ofnatural inclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; orX employs both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under anyof the foregoing instances.

As used herein, a term “or others,” “combination”, “combinatory,” or“combinations thereof” refers to all permutations and combinations oflisted items preceding that term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinationsthereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, orABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB,CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expresslyincluded are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item orterm, such as BB, AAA, AB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth.Skilled artisans understand that typically there is no limit on numberof items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from thecontext.

As used herein, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technicaland scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonlyunderstood by one of ordinary skill in an art to which this disclosurebelongs. Various terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with a meaning in a context of a relevant art and should notbe interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expresslyso defined herein.

As used herein, relative terms such as “below,” “lower,” “above,” and“upper” can be used herein to describe one element's relationship toanother element as illustrated in the set of accompanying illustrativedrawings. Such relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of illustrated technologies in addition to an orientationdepicted in the set of accompanying illustrative drawings. For example,if a device in the set of accompanying illustrative drawings were turnedover, then various elements described as being on a “lower” side ofother elements would then be oriented on “upper” sides of otherelements. Similarly, if a device in one of illustrative figures wereturned over, then various elements described as “below” or “beneath”other elements would then be oriented “above” other elements. Therefore,various example terms “below” and “lower” can encompass both anorientation of above and below.

As used herein, a term “about” or “substantially” refers to a +/−10%variation from a nominal value/term. Such variation is always includedin any given value/term provided herein, whether or not such variationis specifically referred thereto.

Features described with respect to certain embodiments may be combinedin or with various other embodiments in any permutational or combinatorymanner. Different aspects or elements of example embodiments, asdisclosed herein, may be combined in a similar manner.

Although the terms first, second, can be used herein to describe variouselements, components, regions, layers, or sections, these elements,components, regions, layers, or sections should not necessarily belimited by such terms. These terms are used to distinguish one element,component, region, layer or section from another element, component,region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region,layer, or section discussed below could be termed a second element,component, region, layer, or section without departing from variousteachings of this disclosure.

Features described with respect to certain example embodiments can becombined and sub-combined in or with various other example embodiments.Also, different aspects or elements of example embodiments, as disclosedherein, can be combined and sub-combined in a similar manner as well.Further, some example embodiments, whether individually or collectively,can be components of a larger system, wherein other procedures can takeprecedence over or otherwise modify their application. Additionally, anumber of steps can be required before, after, or concurrently withexample embodiments, as disclosed herein. Note that any or all methodsor processes, at least as disclosed herein, can be at least partiallyperformed via at least one entity in any manner.

Example embodiments of this disclosure are described herein withreference to illustrations of idealized embodiments (and intermediatestructures) of this disclosure. As such, variations from variousillustrated shapes as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniquesor tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, various example embodiments ofthis disclosure should not be construed as necessarily limited tovarious particular shapes of regions illustrated herein, but are toinclude deviations in shapes that result, for example, frommanufacturing.

Any or all elements, as disclosed herein, can be formed from a same,structurally continuous piece, such as being unitary, or be separatelymanufactured or connected, such as being an assembly or modules. Any orall elements, as disclosed herein, can be manufactured via anymanufacturing processes, whether additive manufacturing, subtractivemanufacturing, or other any other types of manufacturing. For example,some manufacturing processes include three dimensional (3D) printing,laser cutting, computer numerical control routing, milling, pressing,stamping, vacuum forming, hydroforming, injection molding, lithography,and so forth.

Various corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents ofall means or step plus function elements in various claims below areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. Various embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain various principles of this disclosure and various practicalapplications thereof, and to enable others of ordinary skill in apertinent art to understand this disclosure for various embodiments withvarious modifications as are suited to a particular use contemplated.

This detailed description has been presented for various purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be fully exhaustiveor limited to this disclosure in various forms disclosed. Manymodifications and variations in techniques and structures will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in an art without departing from ascope and spirit of this disclosure as set forth in various claims thatfollow. Accordingly, such modifications and variations are contemplatedas being a part of this disclosure. A scope of this disclosure isdefined by various claims, which include known equivalents andunforeseeable equivalents at a time of filing of this disclosure.

1. (canceled)
 2. A jewelry item comprising: a bar having a firstlongitudinal end portion and a second longitudinal end portion; a firstdecorative object secured to the first longitudinal end portion; and asecond decorative object secured to the second longitudinal end portion,wherein the bar spans between the first decorative object and the seconddecorative object, wherein the bar is configured to extend over a shoehaving a first opening and a second opening such that the first openingis positionally adjacent to the first decorative object and the secondopening is positionally adjacent to the second decorative object whenthe first opening opposes the second opening.
 3. The jewelry item ofclaim 2, wherein the bar is rectilinear between the first decorativeobject and the second decorative object.
 4. The jewelry item of claim 2,wherein the bar is rigid between the first decorative object and thesecond decorative object.
 5. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein thebar is flexible between the first decorative object and the seconddecorative object.
 6. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar isresilient between the first decorative object and the second decorativeobject.
 7. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar is internallysolid between the first decorative object and the second decorativeobject.
 8. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar is internallyhollow between the first decorative object and the second decorativeobject.
 9. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar is perforatedbetween the first decorative object and the second decorative object.10. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar includes a bend betweenthe first decorative object and the second decorative object.
 11. Thejewelry item of claim 10, wherein the bend is positioned centrallybetween the first decorative object and the second decorative object.12. The jewelry item of claim 10, wherein the bend is positionedoff-center positioned between the first decorative object and the seconddecorative object.
 13. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar hasa polygonal cross-section between the first decorative object and thesecond decorative object.
 14. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein thebar has a circular cross-section or an oval cross-section between thefirst decorative object and the second decorative object.
 15. Thejewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar is coated with a non-stickcoating between the first decorative object and the second decorativeobject.
 16. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the first object issecured to the first longitudinal end portion or the second object issecured to the second longitudinal end portion via fastening, mating,interlocking, magnetizing, adhering, hook-and-looping, or snapping. 17.The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the first object is secured to thefirst longitudinal end portion or the second object is secured to thesecond longitudinal end portion via being unitary therewith.
 18. Thejewelry item of claim 2, wherein the first object or the second objectincludes a light source, a sound source, a fluid source, or a vibrationsource.
 19. The jewelry item of claim 2, wherein the bar includes metal,plastic, wood, rubber, glass, crystal, precious stone, or fabric.
 20. Amethod comprising: receiving a bar having a first longitudinal endportion and a second longitudinal end portion; securing a firstdecorative object to the first longitudinal end portion; securing asecond decorative object secured to the second longitudinal end portion,wherein the bar spans between the first decorative object and the seconddecorative object; causing the bar to extend over a shoe having a firstopening and a second opening such that the first opening is positionallyadjacent to the first decorative object and the second opening ispositionally adjacent to the second decorative object when the firstopening opposes the second opening.
 21. A method comprising: causing areceipt of a jewelry item including a bar, a first decorative object,and a second decorative object, wherein the bar has a first longitudinalend portion and a second longitudinal end portion, wherein the firstdecorative object is secured to the first longitudinal end portion,wherein the second decorative object is secured to the secondlongitudinal end portion, wherein the bar spans between the firstdecorative object and the second decorative object; and causing the barto extend over a shoe having a first opening and a second opening suchthat the first opening is positionally adjacent to the first decorativeobject and the second opening is positionally adjacent to the seconddecorative object when the first opening opposes the second opening.